Who thought it’d be so complicated to secure a suitable scheme for institutions.

Initially we had intended for institutions to estimate the number of likely users and this has had two unforeseen consequences:

  • Those purchasing the license are uncomfortable guessing. It requires extra work and a bit of guesswork, which leads to the second point…
  • What if they’re wrong – are there consequences?

So, between them it doesn’t work!

The next method I explored was by size of organisation but is that an accurate way to assess size?  Some publishers use full-time equivalent staff while others use full-time equivalent users!  The latter is to ensure students are counted in a universities ‘head count’ – otherwise the majority of users could be unpaying students!

The current favourite is based on the PsychInfo method which is slightly more complex but more flexible.  How we’re planning to adopt it is to have four main types of organisations:

  1. Universities
  2. Hospitals/health centres
  3. Government/public sector
  4. Corporations

Each of these will be divided into 3-4 sizes e.g. very small, small, medium and large.

This approach should be familiar with those involved in purchasing so hopefully it’ll be less problematic.  But what I am keen to stress is, if in doubt, get in touch and discuss AND negotiate..!